Sales have now risen in two of the first seven months of 2012. In the year-to-date sales were 138,699, 7.8% down on the corresponding period last year.
SMMT boss Paul Everitt said the strong July result provided a “welcome boost” but added that the market still remained well below pre-recession levels.
The pick-up sector enjoyed the biggest rise in July – up almost 40% to 1929 but remained 16.4% down in the year-to-date.
Sales of vans weighing less than 2.0-tonnes increased 27% to 3197 in July and sales in the 2.5-3.5-tonne sector grew nearly 7% to 10,992. However sales of vans in the mid-sized 2.0-2.5-tonne sector fell by a marginal 0.5% to 2420.
